Reason To Stay
by Insane But Happy
Summary: Alternate ending to 'Masks'. When Robin decides to leave the Titans, will Starfire be able to convince him to stay? RS OneShot.


**Disclaimer:** Do any of you honestly think I own them?

**A/N: **Yes, this is an alternate ending to the episode 'Masks'. Now, I'm not saying that I didn't like the original ending, in fact, I loved that entire episode. I just came up with this idea and thought I should write it. Please don't flame me!

**Reason To Stay**

_It had all happened so fast. Starfire could barely believe it. The shouts, the accusations each team member had spurted at their leader. Robin had gone too far this time, had let his dark obsession of finding and defeating Slade get in the way of his and the team's safety. Starfire had watched, helpless, her pleas for them to stop their arguing lost in the storm of angry shouts. The alien girl knew that her friends were right and that Robin had a serious problem, and it pained her to see him become so consumed in his endless quest to rid the city, and world, of evil-doers…but nothing good could come out of this shouting. Starfire was scared. _

_Then came that faithful moment, where Robin, their brave leader, and friend, had been pushed over the edge. _

_"I'M LEAVING!" he had roared. Everyone fell silent, and Starfire had gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. Robin breathed heavily, his face contorted into a look of pure malice. "I'm leaving," he repeated, as if to convince himself, "And I'm not coming back."_

_And with a swish of his cape, he had turned on his heels and stormed out of the room to pack. The silence that had followed was almost unbearable. Nobody could believe what had just happened; they didn't want to believe it. Robin was actually leaving the team. Starfire felt tears burn the brim of her emerald eyes, and looked at her friends in turn, her eyes pleading for a way to resolve this. No one met her gaze, and silently, one by one, they left the room to retreat to their quarters in silent disbelief._

Starfire now found herself standing in front of the elevator door, waiting. After a moment, the light above the elevator dinged, the doors slid open to reveal the Boy Wonder, a suitcase in each hand, an unreadable expression on his masked face. He paused for a moment when he saw Starfire standing there in front of him, looking at her levelly with a stony gaze, before briskly navigating himself around her and towards the front entrance. Starfire gasped and spun round, the tips of her feet grazing the ground as she floated swiftly after him.

"Robin…" she called out timidly, but her leader made no notion to reply. Starfire quickly pursued him.

"Robin!" the alien girl cried out desperately again, and this time, Robin stopped. Starfire moved forward, cautiously placing a hand on his stiff shoulder. Robin turned his head, fixing Starfire with a stare so cold that the young girl resisted the urge to squeak as she quickly withdrew her hand from his shoulder; yet as Starfire's eyes bore into Robin's masked ones, she could sense the intense pain he was feeling at that moment, and Starfire could feel the tears threatening to spill from her emerald eyes as she gazed pleadingly at her best friend.

"Robin…." She spoke softly, "Please do not leave…"

Robin turned his head away from her and back towards the door that lay ahead of him.

"I'm sorry, Starfire." He said quietly, his voice hoarse, "But I have to go."

Starfire choked back a sob as Robin resumed his steady pace towards the door. He couldn't leave, not now, not when the team needed him so badly…not when _she _needed him so badly. With him gone, Starfire didn't know what she would do. She lifted her hand, her arm shaking violently, as if reaching out to him.

"But the team needs you!" she choked out, her voice quivering, "I-I need you…" A tear slowly made its way down her flushed cheek, followed soon by others. The alien princess made no notion to wipe them away; she merely stared at her friend's back sorrowfully. The Boy wonder stopped again and turned around slowly, head tilted down so he stared at his steel-toed boots; anything to avoid looking at Starfire's tear-stricken face.

"No, you don't." he said quietly, and Starfire was certain she had heard a waver in his voice.

Starfire shook her head, unable to bring herself to utter a word as she looked at Robin, eyes wide. Why was he being so cold towards her? Why did he say such things?

"I-I do not understand…" Starfire willed herself to speak, her cheeks stained from the salty tears that snaked their way down her face and dropped from her chin to form a small puddle on the floor beneath her. Robin looked down at the small pool of tears, and it made him ache with more guilt and self-hatred then he had ever imagined possible.

"All I ever do is hurt you." The boy whispered, "You, the team…They're right, I do take things too far. I let my obsessive and reckless behavior get in the way of my duty as leader of the team. One of these days, one of my stupid mistakes will cost someone's life…and I can't let that happen. If anything happened to the team…" he took a sharp intake of breath, "To you…I would never forgive myself. I…I'm just too reckless…"

Starfire just stared at Robin, the pain she felt inside her almost unbearable. She realized that behind the mask, beneath the façade of fearless leader of the Teen Titans, Robin was just a teenage boy, still a child in many ways. To have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders like he did would be enough to cause anyone to break down, yet Robin had held strong for so many years, taking on responsibilities greater then many adults had to face in their entire life time. With this realization Starfire felt an even greater admiration for Robin, but also a great sadness. The poor boy had suffered so much in his short life-span; more then anyone should ever have to suffer.

"Robin, it is not your-" she began quietly, but Robin cut her off.

"Don't start that." He said sharply, "It is my fault, every bit of it. It's my fault that Slade keeps getting away, my fault that the team keeps getting put in danger. It's my fault that you keep getting hurt." Robin tightened his grip on the suitcase handles, his knuckles turning white beneath his gloves. "No matter what I do, I always seem to end up hurting you…" he laughed bitterly, "It's like it's the only thing I'm good at."

Starfire felt herself shudder as Robin spoke, and clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Stop that!" Robin's head snapped upwards at Starfire's sudden outburst. He was shocked to see Starfire's eyes ablaze with fury as she glared defiantly at the Boy Wonder.

"Stop this behavior right now!" she shouted, though her eyes continued to stream, "This is not the Robin I know! The Robin _I_ know would not stand here in front of me wallowing in self-hatred. He would stand tall, accept his mistakes and try and fix them!" She spoke with such passion that Robin had to stop himself from flinching under her wrath. Starfire didn't miss a beat as she continued her speech, "The Robin I see standing before me now is nothing more then a coward. By turning your back on the team, you are turning your back on yourself, on everything you have worked so hard to protect. You are our friend, Robin, our leader, and we need you, the city needs you! By leaving you will not save the world, nor will you save yourself. You are being nothing more then a selfish coward!"

"SHUT UP!" Robin shouted his breathing heavy. Starfire's eyes softened, and she gasped quietly. Perhaps she had been too harsh in calling him a coward, but she could not just stand there while he said such awful things about himself. Even though he had made terrible mistakes, Starfire still loved him with all her heart. Perhaps he didn't realize it, but the pain he harbored was slowly killing her along with himself.

"Robin, please-" she began again, but Robin cut her off.

"Starfire, I'm sorry, but until I can be a better leader and friend to all of you, I can't stay. You heard the others; I've gone too far, it's got to stop! I have no reason left to stay."

Those last words stung Starfire's heart worse then she had ever felt before and a small whimper escaped her lips. Robin realized with a surge of self-hatred that he had once again managed to hurt Starfire, the sweet, innocent girl who had only ever tried to be a good friend to him. He let out a cry of frustration, snapping his eyes shut and squeezing the suitcase handles so hard that his hands threatened to bleed from the pressure. Robin didn't want to leave her, to break her fragile heart again, but he knew that that was exactly what he would do if he stayed. He couldn't keep hurting her, causing those tears to spill every time he broke her heart. Although is pained him greatly, tearing at his heart such brutality that he wanted to scream, he knew this had to end now. Turning on his heels he forced himself to make his way once again towards the front door that he had so far been unable to reach.

But Starfire would have none of this. She would not allow Robin to be swept from her life because he believed that he was worthless. In a fit of emotion, she shot her arm forward and seized hold of the Boy Wonder's shoulder, swinging him round and bringing him to her as she placed a searing kiss upon his lips. Robin stood rigid at first, undeniably caught off guard by the alien girl's sudden action. However, after a moment that, to Starfire, seemed to last for a painful eternity, Robin loosened his grip, the suitcases dropping from his hand, and shut his eyes, responding to the kiss with such passion and desperate desire that Starfire was overwhelmed. Starfire wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, and Robin was eager to reply by wrapping his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss.

Eventually, they broke apart, gasping for breath, and Starfire whispered, "Is that reason enough to stay?"

To her surprise, Robin whimpered, crushing Starfire's body against his as he pulled her into a tight hug. He nestled his face into her shoulder, breathing in the sent of her hair as if desperately storing every ounce of it to memory. Starfire hugged him back and the two stood like that, holding on to each other as if their lives depended on it. Starfire could feel the wetness of tears on her shoulder and realized with a jolt that Robin, her brave, fearless leader, was actually crying into her shoulder. His tears mounted to sobs, his shoulders shaking, his fingers entwined in Starfire's ruby locks, and in turn, Starfire felt herself sob.

All the world around them seemed to stop as they stood there for what seemed like an eternity, sobbing quietly in each others arms, comforting each other, loving each other. It was a time of healing, of understanding. They needed each other to live, to breathe. They were two souls connected to bring the other the strength they both needed to live, to love.

"I will never leave you, my Starfire." Robin whispered into Starfire's ear.

Starfire smiled, laying a gentle kiss on his lips. "I know." She said softly.

There would be hard times ahead of them, but together they would await them, face them, and endure them. For their passion, their strength, their love was reason enough to stay.

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Well, there you have it- my cheesy attempt at some angst. --;; It's short, I know, and I'm not very happy with it…but whatever. I hope you still enjoyed it. I always love reviews!


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